Blindsided (Indigo Love Spectrum) (27 page)

“Yeah, but what’s the fun in that?”

A trio of strolling violinists made their way into the
room. Dahlia couldn’t believe this evening. Norris had
spared no expense.

He extended his hand across the table. “Dance with
me.”

“I don’t think that would be wise.”

“Ah, come on, Dahlia. Throw caution to the wind. I
won’t tell anyone you danced with me, and I’m sure the
entertainment won’t, either.” Norris kept his hand
extended. “Come on.”

Against her better judgment, Dahlia took his hand
and took to the floor with him. Their bodies moved in a
gentle sway to the music. Norris brought her closer,
clasping his fingers around the small of her back.

Dahlia draped her arms around Norris’s shoulders,
and nestled her head in the crook of his neck. A soft sigh
passed her lips. She missed being in his arms. This didn’t
feel scary. Even on that first night, as wrong as it was, it
had felt right. Her fingers combed through the soft curls
at the nape of his neck. Norris moaned and held her
closer. His pounding heart thudded against her breast, as
an altogether different pounding thumped against her
thigh.

Dahlia lifted her head to the reward of Norris’s kiss.
His supple lips caressed hers with the softness of a
feathery touch. Her lips parted at the insistence of his
w
arm tongue, welcoming his sensual invasion to her
mouth. Dahlia clung to him, savoring this moment she
had gone without for so long, with the thought of
allowing it to continue back at his place. But she knew he
would have none of that, and as much as it drove her
crazy, it also made her feel incredibly special.

The kiss came to an end. The sound of heavy
breathing joined the sweet melody of soft strings.
Passion-laden gray eyes stared down at her.

“I would love nothing more than to take you home
with me,” Norris said, stroking her cheek and reading her
thoughts, “but you know why that can’t happen.”

She nodded. “You’ve made it clear.”

“This is killing me, Dahlia, but I can’t allow my
carnal urges for you to override my hope for our future.
It’s too important to me. I think this was a pretty good
first date.”

Dahlia smiled. He was right, but she wouldn’t allow
herself to say the words. She had some serious soul-
searching to do. “Good night, Norris.”

“Good night, Dahlia.”

“Hi.” Norris kissed Lara on the cheek and made his way into the house. “Angelica ready?” he asked.

“Just about. Ryan is helping with her sneakers.”

Norris brought his hands together. “Great. This
should be fun. I know Justin went to the movies with
Billy, but I’ll be sure to find him something he’ll like.”

“Why do you want to take Angelica to the mall again?
I’m certain using her as your chick magnet isn’t it this
time.”

“You wound me, Lara. I’m a chick magnet in my own
right.” He grinned at Lara’s pursed lips. “She’s my god
daughter and I love spending time with her. And I don’t
think you and Ryan will mind having some time alone.”

Lara pressed her hand to the side of her ever-
widening girth. “I think Ryan and I have spent more
than enough time alone. Today, we’ll spend our time
alone writing thank you notes for last week’s baby
shower.” She grimaced.

“Oh.” Norris touched the top of Lara’s tummy. A
thrusting movement bumped against his hand. “Oooh. Is
that a foot?”

“I think they’re playing Twister. You don’t want to
know where those other feet are.”

Norris shuddered. “I think you’re right.”

A
ngelica raced into the room with Ryan following
closely behind, urging her to stop running.

“Uncle Norris!” Angelica leapt into his arms, hugging
his neck. “Will you buy me a baby doll?”

He kissed her nose. “Absolutely.”

“Don’t spoil her, Norris,” Ryan said, draping his arm
around Lara’s shoulders.

“I think you’ve already beat him to it,” Lara
remarked.

“He’s worse than me, babe.”

“What worse?” said Norris. “Buying this sweet child
a doll is not spoiling her.” He pressed his cheek to
Angelica’s. “Just look at that face. Who can say no to that
face?”

Lara raised her hand. “I can,” she said. “It’s hard but
possible. Don’t go crazy, Norris.”

“And that’s crazy by our standards, not yours,” Ryan
said.

Norris smiled as the precious little girl. Spoiling this
angel came as easily for him as breathing. How he wished
he’d known Reese at this age. If he didn’t call Reese, he
would probably never hear from her. She didn’t freeze
him out, but she definitely didn’t overextend herself, and
the school year had ended a couple of weeks ago. Things
had to get better for them, but first he had to convince her he’d shed his title of lady-killer.

“So, is Dahlia joining you and Angelica on the mall
excursion?” Ryan asked.

“No. As far as I know, she’s working,” Norris
answered.

“As far as you know?”

“That’s right. You ask me the same question all the
time, and the answer is the same. There’s no relationship.”

“You guys had that great date a couple of weeks ago.”

“Yes, weeks, Ryan. More than a month. The last sig
nificant conversation we had was when I informed her
about the success of her audit, and that was business. I’m
not pushing the personal issue anymore. Dahlia knows
how I feel. I’m giving her space to deal with what she’s
feeling.”

“I saw Dahlia yesterday,” Lara said. “She asked about
you.”

“Did she?”

“Uh-huh. She’s weakening.”

“Really? She hardly says more than hello to me when
I phone for Reese.”

“That’s what women do,” Lara said. “Dahlia can’t let
you know she’s thinking about you.”

“But you just told me.”

“That’s right, because she wanted me to.”

“Huh?” Norris said, switching Angelica to his other side. “Did she ask you to tell me?”

“No, she didn’t. But trust me, if you were to—I don’t
know—pay her a visit, I bet she’d be glad you did.” Lara
smiled broadly. “Just something to think about.”

“Things better with Reese?” Ryan asked.

Norris grunted. “Let’s just say they aren’t any worse.”

“She’s a teenager, and you’re both still adjusting,” Lara
said. “She just needs . . .”

“
More time,” Norris said. “I know.” He jiggled
Angelica. “You ready to go?”

“Yep!” she answered.

“All right.”

Lara kissed Angelica’s cheek. “You keep your eye on
Uncle Norris, okay?”

Angelica nodded. “I will, Mommy.”

“Don’t spend more on her today than Lara and I make
in a week,” Ryan told him, kissing Angelica’s forehead.
“We want her to grow up to appreciate things and not just
expect them because Uncle Norris can buy them for her.”

Norris frowned. “Killjoy.”

“Norris.”

“All right, all right,” he said. “I won’t overindulge.”

* * *

Ten minutes and one toy store after arriving at the
mall, Angelica had two new babies to play with. Norris walked through the mall with Angelica holding one hand
and a bag with her two new dolls and a video game for
Justin in the other.

“I have two babies just like Mommy is going to have,”
Angelica said proudly. “Thank you, Uncle Norris.” She
beamed.

“You’re welcome, sweetie.” Norris wondered if he
could ever get a big smile like that out of Reese. “I was
happy to get them for you.”

“Uncle Norris, look!” Angelica pointed across the way
to the music store. “Diana and Reese.”

N
orris looked over to find his daughter and her friend
engaged in jovial conversation with two young African-
American men, one of whom had his arm around Reese’s
waist, an act she didn’t seem to mind, but one he minded
a lot. Her flirting with a guy made him uneasy, but
touching made him worried.

“C’mon!” Angelica pulled him toward the girls, but
Norris didn’t need any prodding. Angelica tapped on
Diana’s leg, finally getting her cousin’s attention from the
young man who had her all smiles. “Hey, Diana,” she
greeted cheerfully.

“Angelica, Mr. Converse, hello,” Diana said.

“Hello.” Norris gazed at his daughter. “Hello, Reese.
Who’s your friend?” he asked of the young man who seemed
somewhat familiar to him, but way too familiar with Reese.

“This is Jack,” Reese said, sliding her hand into her
friend’s.

“Jack? Like Cher?”

Reese frowned, but Norris held his ground. She didn’t
have to tell him her darkest secrets, but he deserved to know
of her interest in some guy and what his full name was.

“No, sir, Mr. Converse, I’m Jackson Armstrong,” said
the young man, extending his hand. “My father works at
your firm.”

Norris shook Jack’s hand. “David,” he said, remem
bering Jack’s face from a photo on David Armstrong’s
desk. A good man and great accountant, David had
joined the firm a couple of years ago when several area
non-profit organizations approached Norris for services.
David had taken up the paying customers Norris found
i
t beneficial to accept to keep a flow of capital on hand
for financial planning classes in different communities. So far, things had been going great. In fact, he entertained the idea of hiring a couple more accountants to help with David’s burgeoning clientele. But being fond
of David was one thing, and having his son hanging all
over Reese quite another. “How long have you two
known each other?”

“Since Reese moved to Denburg. We’re classmates,”
Jack explained. “She told me about finding out you were
her father.”

“Amazing, she hasn’t said a word to me about you.
You two dating?”

Reese glared at him through narrowed eyes. “Why are
you here, Norris?” she said, her words intensely meas
ured.

“He bought me new dollies,” Angelica happily
shared, swinging Norris’s hand. “Wanna see ’em?”

“Maybe some other time, Angelica,” Reese said, man
aging to give the little girl a smile before fixing her angry
frown back at Norris.

Quiet settled around them. Norris couldn’t understand why Reese didn’t tell him about Jack. She asked
him all sorts of personal questions, but she’d never once
mentioned she liked a guy. Why had she kept this a
secret? Wondering why only served to anger him. She had some explaining to do.

Diana cleared her throat. “Jack, why don’t you and
Barry go over to the food court, okay?” she said. “Reese
and I will meet you over there in a bit.”

The guys nodded and went on their way.

“Mr. Converse, I’m going to take Angelica to the
bathroom.”

“But I don’t have to go,” said Angelica.

“Then we’ll go to the carousel.” Diana flashed a tight
smile at father and daughter and reached for Angelica’s
hand. “You two go on and discuss whatever it is you have
to discuss. We’ll be over there,” she said, making tracks to
the merry-go-round.

“You want to explain your behavior!” Reese blasted,
once Diana and Angelica were out of earshot.